We waited near the exit of the Pope’s Palace until someone walked out, slipped inside and bought another bottle. We may have repeated this maneuver at least one more time over the next couple of weeks.
Little did I know that this tiny “heist” would eventually lead to a group of our own winery guests sharing lunch and wines with the Jaume family decades later.
The Original Pilgrimage
In 2002, Carrie and I made our first pilgrimage to the Rhône Valley. We drove down from Paris and were surprised to discover something almost shocking at the time: the wines in the grocery stores weren’t necessarily very good. We had this romantic idea that every random bottle in France would be amazing. Turns out France has grocery store wine too.
While visiting the Pope’s Palace in Avignon, we eventually wound our way into the gift shop where, oddly enough, there seemed to be a very respectable wine section. We picked up a bottle of Côtes du Rhône from Domaine Grand Veneur. I honestly don’t remember why we chose that particular bottle, but we took it back to our apartment and immediately loved it. So much so that we actually took a picture of it. With a real film camera. This was back when taking a photo meant finishing the roll and waiting a week for the drugstore to develop it.
The next day we went back to the palace for our first “heist”.
A Connection to the Hill
Grand Veneur is the Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate of the Alain Jaume family. When we returned home, we discovered their wines were distributed in the United States and we started buying them regularly. One wine in particular became a favorite: their Côtes du Rhône Les Champauvins. It drank like a baby Châteauneuf-du-Pape at a much friendlier price.
Eventually we began pouring Les Champauvins alongside our own Rhône-inspired blend during our “Holly’s Hill vs France” tastings. Over the years our Côtes du Rhône-inspired wine has gone through several name changes: Tranquille, Petite Patriarche and now Lover’s Leap. It has generally remained a Grenache-driven blend, similar in spirit to Patriarche but softer, brighter and more red-fruited compared to Patriarche’s more Mourvèdre-dominated structure.
Returning as Hosts
Fast forward to four years ago when Carrie and I hosted a Rhône River cruise with a group from the winery. The trip ended in Avignon, where we rented a car and drove toward Italy with my parents. It was a sentimental journey, visiting my great-grandfather’s birthplace in Liguria, but before crossing into Italy, we had one mandatory stop.
We stopped at Grand Veneur for a tasting. Much of Europe still operates more by appointment. One thing that’s somewhat unusual about Grand Veneur, at least by these European standards, is that it has a more American-style tasting room. You can actually walk in, belly up to the bar, taste wines and decide what you like.
We found lots to love there. The familiar Les Champauvins, of course, but also a vivid Tavel rosé, deep pink bordering on ruby, the way traditional Rhône rosés used to look before everyone decided rosé should resemble lightly tinted water…ouch! We bought several bottles to bring into Italy.
Shh. Don’t tell the Italians.
The Full Circle Moment
The following year we hosted another river cruise, this time down the Danube. During that trip several guests asked if we’d ever consider returning to the Rhône. Honestly, I didn’t need much convincing. We specialize in Rhône varieties and I love that region.
So four years after that original trip, we returned.
This cruise was a little different though. Instead of beginning in Lyon, it started in Dijon, giving us our very first look at Burgundy.
But while looking over the itinerary, we realized something was missing. There weren’t any winery visits in the Rhône Valley itself. Burgundy and Beaujolais, yes. Rhône, oddly enough, no.
We asked the company coordinating with AmaWaterways if there was any way to add a private Rhône winery visit for our group and they were game.
My first thought was Château de Beaucastel. After all, most of our Rhône cuttings ultimately trace back there through Tablas Creek Vineyard of Paso Robles. It’s also one of the iconic estates sitting right in the heart of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
I reached out to Jason Haas, co-owner of Tablas along with the Perrin family of Beaucastel, who quickly replied that he’d ask. Then he asked when we’d be there.
When I told him the date he responded, “That’s not going to work. We’re going to be there that day too.”
What are the chances? Both of us hosting winery groups in Châteauneuf-du-Pape on the exact same day!
There are plenty of other estates we love in the region too. Le Vieux Donjon, Clos du Pape and several others produce incredible wines, but accommodating a group our size would have been difficult.
Going back to Grand Veneur just felt natural and then we learned that they also have a restaurant above the tasting room. It was all coming together!
Our group arrived in two buses. During the visit I told the guides all these stories about discovering their wines years earlier and even bringing bottles into Italy. One of them laughed and asked, “Wait… you brought Rhône wines into Italy?”
I said, “No. Grand Veneur wines.”
Alain Jaume’s daughter Hélène smiled as she said, “I didn’t know this story.”
Lunch and a Lesson
The first wine poured was their Viognier from vineyards we had just visited. Our guide explained that under normal conditions we’d have walked through the vineyard itself, but recent rains had turned everything into mud. At one point a tractor forced us off the road and onto the famous galets roulés, those large rounded river stones Châteauneuf is known for. The second we stepped onto them we started sinking. The soil underneath was deceptively soaked.
They also poured their white Châteauneuf-du-Pape made from Roussanne and Clairette.
As for the food, they brought out sushi.
What?
But it worked beautifully. It was peppered with fresh mint and other herbs I couldn’t quite identify. Fresh tuna prepared almost ceviche-style made me think, “Can I serve raw fish to guests at our winery events?” Then came a bowl of asparagus mousse topped with chopped asparagus and a piped savory cream that looked sweet but absolutely wasn’t. Salty, rich and savory.
Oh my gosh. I was in heaven.
The Viognier was superb. Honestly, I thought it was better than many Viognier wines we tasted from the famed Condrieu region farther north. In fact, I remember thinking how much it reminded me of ours back home. I bought a bottle specifically to bring back so we could taste them side by side.
The next round of wines included the familiar Les Champauvins alongside a Lirac. The Champauvins was exactly as I remembered: essentially a baby Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Lirac fascinated me because although Grenache dominated the blend, it carried unmistakable Syrah character. Darker fruit, pepper and savory notes.
At some point platters of Comté cheese, cured meats and charcuterie appeared.
Then came a Vacqueyras showing anise, garrigue, and pepper alongside Le Miocène Châteauneuf-du-Pape with fresh fruit, dried herbs and this wild, savory marine note that made me think, strangely enough, of mussels.
These wines were paired with beef bourguignon that may have had the deepest, richest flavor of any version I’ve ever tasted but, of course, they used their own wine instead of Burgundy.
Eventually I announced to our guests that the tasting had concluded and encouraged everyone to head downstairs to the tasting room if they wanted to purchase wine, which is exactly where I immediately went myself.
A few minutes later I discovered I had apparently ended lunch prematurely. There was still molten chocolate cake, pistachio cream and espresso upstairs.
Oops.
I love how that one random bottle we liked enough to sneak back in for again and again somehow led to a bus full of our own winery guests drinking wines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape decades later.
Sadly, the Palais des Papes gift shop no longer sells wine, so future visitors won’t get the chance to awkwardly sneak back in for “just one more bottle” of Grand Veneur the way we did in 2004.
Then again, maybe that’s fitting. Some wine discoveries are supposed to feel a little accidental.
Josh Bendick
Co-winemaker
2 Responses
Love your stories and wine descriptions! It was a fabulous trip for sure! BTW, I looked at Total Wine online and they don’t have the Grand Veneur in Folsom (did you buy it all??), but they have it in Vacaville. Surprisingly, they had a Chateau de Rully!
Ha! No, I noticed Folsom doesn’t have it too. Thanks so much for making the trip great!